Andrew Smith
I was introduced to Gary Williams during late 1970s when I imported his A Tribute To Jimmie Rodgers vinyl album on the German Folk Variety label (FV 12013). (Folk Variety was the forerunner of Bear Family.) At the time, there were two other Folk Variety albums of his (My Reflection, FV 12004, and Wanderin’ Star, FV 12011), and another two were listed as “to be released in 1978”.
Somewhere I have an interview of him on tape in which he displayed an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of Jimmie Rodgers. With the demise of the Folk Variety label, I heard very little of him, so you can imagine my enthusiasm for this 34-track CD of his recordings from 1957 to 1978 (mainly from the Verve, Panorama and Manito labels).
The interesting compilation has filled some gaps in my collection; and if you’re new to Gary Williams, then you’re in for rewarding listening. Certainly, until this reissue, very little seems to have been known about him, judging from the Hillbilly-Music dawt com website.
Much of this collection is unadorned country music. Williams sings his way through prison songs (In This Prison Cell, Death Row, the rockabilly style Walla Walla State Prison, County Jail Blues) through fugitive songs (Manhunt, Public Enemy Number One, Branded an Outlaw) to other interesting titles (Travelin’ Blues Boy, Heart Break Special, The Great Northwest, Hawaii) ―all good musical fare. The accompaniments are predominantly guitar (with occasional steel guitar) and a rhythm section. Musicians include (on two tracks) Merle Travis and Wesley Tuttle, but most are unknown.
As with all Bear Family releases, the accompanying documentation is extensive. It includes an entertaining booklet by Deke Dickerson, who paid $100 for one of three copies of Williams’s sometimes-unconventional memoirs, Girls, Guns and Guitars – My Whole Life (The First Half Anyway).
Dickerson is, of course, the author of the highly recommended Sixteen Tons: The Merle Travis Story and his comprehensive notes are both informative and entertaining in themselves. Rounding out the information is producer Nico Feuerbach’s discography of the songs on this album.
Deke describes the life of Williams, whom he affectionately describes as “a first-class nut”. Williams was born in 1938 and appeared on the Town Hall Party television show, where he befriended Merle Travis.
He frequently traveled to Meridian for the Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festivals (hence his moniker, “The Travelin’ Blues Boy”). He performed on The Louisiana Hayride and The Ozark Mountain Jamboree, was on Nashville television, compered radio shows, wrote around 600 songs, some of which were covered by Webb Pierce and Bobby Wayne, made the album Teen Time with Ricky Nelson, and then converted to Christianity. He was hit by a teenage driver in 2018 and died after stubbornly refusing medical care.
The album can be purchased direct from Bear Family (whose packaging is about the best in the business) and Amazon USA (where postage is free for Amazon Prime members).
